The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Suddenly, there was a surge of people in the distance, it turned out that the prefect had arrived!

Some prominent figures greeted the prefect Cao one after another. This was the best opportunity to show their "strong power" to the world. It would be even more of an honor if the prefect could take the initiative to call out their names!

Cao Guangshi knew that Feng Jiuxiao was also in a corner, and he didn't want Feng Jiuxiao to see him being "abnormally close" to the local gentry, so he just smiled, nodded slightly, and kept walking forward, creating an atmosphere that was neither impolite nor showed that he was too busy with official duties to reminisce with everyone. Everyone didn't know what the prefect was thinking, and they all thought that the prefect was rushing according to the established plan.

A special open space was fenced off on the shore, with a viewing platform set up and guarded by special personnel.

The viewing platform was built by the leader of Longyou Gang specifically for the prefect. In addition to Cao Guangshi's seat, ten more seats were set up on it, which were reserved for the "big shots" in the city. Of course, there were more than ten big shots in Yazhou City. How to finalize the candidates? In fact, the method is very simple, that is, spend money!

Whoever pays more can sit on the observation deck. Only those who can sit on the observation deck are real big shots!

Naturally, many people criticized the actions of the Longyou Gang leader!

But who can blame them for getting the right to host the Dragon Boat Race this time?

In order to obtain the right to host this year's event, Longyou Gang leader Ye Changge naturally spent a lot of money!

As a result, the Song Dynasty suddenly attacked Shu, which really disappointed him!

Unexpectedly, the newly appointed prefect Cao was so easy to talk to, and actually agreed to let him continue to host the competition! And he didn't take a single ounce of silver from him! The previous prefect was an official of the Great Shu Dynasty, and he received a lot of benefits from him! With this comparison, Ye Changge naturally looked at Cao Guangshi with a new eye!

As the organizer of this dragon boat race, his purpose is naturally not to lose money, but to make money!

If we still follow the previous model, more than a dozen counties will have to pay, with a fixed portion to be apportioned, and the rest will be sponsored by county gentry and landlords!

This time, Ye Changge listened to an idea from a retainer. In addition to collecting the above fees, he also came up with a gimmick!

——Ten VIP seats have been added to the viewing platform for this competition and are available for sale to the public!

The starting price for each seat is one thousand taels!

Someone asked, who would spend money to buy this useless thing, you can't watch it anywhere you sit?

But the condition given by the Longyou Gang is that the prefect will personally sit on the observation deck this time! These ten seats are for the prefect to sit with him!

Sitting at the same table with the prefect? ​​What does this mean? Especially for businessmen, this means an improvement in their status! Whether it is the Great Shu or the Great Song, people are always divided into different classes, namely, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. The court has always valued agriculture over merchants. No matter how rich a businessman is, he has no status in the eyes of the world! Of course, some smart people realized that the court suppressed the status of merchants not because the merchants were "opportunistic", but because the merchants traveled all over the world and had too much information. If these people became powerful, they would be difficult to control! It would shake the foundation of the dynasty's rule! Therefore, suppressing merchants is a traditional custom of emperors of all dynasties!

Of course, it is not ruled out that some businessmen have extremely high social status! Such businessmen basically have an obvious characteristic, that is, they have a strong official background! Otherwise, even if the court does not suppress them, they will be attacked by other opponents! A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind!

So after the news of selling viewing seats spread, the people cursed the Longyou Gang for being crazy about money. They were so bold that they dared to let businessmen and the prefect sit on an equal footing. Aren’t they afraid that the prefect will punish them?

But the merchants had another idea! What they cared about most was the authenticity of the news!

This is no joke!

If the prefect knew that someone was using him to make money, wouldn't he immediately arrest him and put him in jail?

But when they verified from various channels that the news was actually true, the businessmen were moved!

If I could sit at the same table with the prefect, it would mean that I was the prefect's guest of honor! Then I would be able to "eat well" in Yazhou City from now on!

So dozens of merchants from more than a dozen counties in Yazhou City made bids!

In order to avoid damaging the relationship, the Longyou Gang asked everyone to write down the bidding numbers directly on a piece of letter paper, which was then sealed and handed over to the Longyou Gang. The letter would then be posted publicly in the largest restaurant in Yazhou on a chosen day. The amounts offered by all merchants would be ranked from high to low, and the top ten would be picked!

This will test the wisdom of businessmen!

If you pay too much, you will naturally feel like you are losing out! Others only pay a hundred taels at most, but you pay two hundred taels. Isn't that a loss of a hundred taels? It would be best if you pay only one tael more than others! One tael more will win!

If you pay too little, you're afraid you won't be able to grab the item! Especially when you're only one ounce short of the others, that's the most frustrating thing!

Therefore, these businessmen really put in a lot of effort to find out all the information about their main competitors, and then guess where their bottom line is!

Of course, some people also turned their attention to the Longyou Gang. They immediately found out who would be responsible for opening the envelope!

Their idea was simple and crude! They just wanted to bribe the Longyou Gang disciples so that they could "pass off fakes as real ones" and "use fakes as real ones"!

Unfortunately, although the disciples of Longyou Gang love money, they are more afraid of death!

They knew Ye Changge's methods! No one would be foolish for a small profit!

So in the end everyone can only gamble!

Bet your numbers can hit the top ten!

At this time, Ye Changge came to the observation deck and shouted, "Everyone, be quiet!"

His skills were not low, and this sound was like thunder coming out of the blue, instantly drowning out all the noise!

Ye Changge glanced at Cao Guangshi on the stage, clasped his fists and said, "Master Cao, shall we begin?"

Cao Guangshi nodded, "Okay!"

Ye Changge glanced around and said loudly: "Hello, fellow villagers, I am Ye Changge, the leader of Longyou Gang! Now I will first announce the process of the dragon boat race..."

Although Cao Guangshi was looking at Ye Changge, what he was thinking about was the scene when Ye Changge first came to him!

The first time Ye Changge met Cao Guangshi was by beating drums to appeal for justice!

This was of course Ye Changge's trick! He first played the victim, saying that he had sold everything he had to raise enough money for the competition, but the world of Dashu changed overnight, making him feel like the sky had fallen!

Cao Guangshi naturally has to solve Ye Changge’s problem!

Then, as time went by, the relationship between the two naturally became closer.

Just a few days ago, Ye Changge found Cao Guangshi again and made a tentative suggestion, and Cao Guangshi actually agreed!

The reason Cao Guangshi gave was very simple. Since he could share happiness with the people and help you, Ye Changge, make up for the deficit, why not do it?

But Ye Changge’s real plan was not like this!

In fact, he had already earned back all the expenses. This time, the seat fee was a windfall. His purpose of earning this windfall was to "repay" Cao Guangshi! Although Lord Cao had never accepted a tael of silver from him, it was naturally because he was new and did not dare to easily reveal his inner thoughts! After the competition was over, half of the seat fee would naturally be given to Lord Cao! As long as he accepted it this time, he would definitely not be able to refuse it again in the future!

Cao Guangshi looked at Ye Changge who was reading out the rules of the competition again, and his thoughts began to drift again!

Ye Changge tried to test him several times, just to drag him down! He said the so-called seat fee was to make up for his shortfall. At that time, tears almost fell from his eyes. His acting skills were not bad, but didn't he know that Cao's acting skills were also good?

Cao Guang said sincerely: You keep crying poor and asked me to help you make money. Do you think I don't know that you have already made it back? Cao is willing to deal with you, a gangster, just to borrow your power to tear apart the network of relationships in Yazhou! After I find out the details of the various forces in Yazhou City, it will be time for Cao to show his strength! By then, it would be better for the Longyou Gang to be like you said, at most doing some petty thefts and never murdering or setting fires, otherwise you will be the first one to be dealt with!

He glanced at the ten merchants sitting on both sides with the corner of his eye, sneering in his heart: You thought you bought a talisman, but you didn't know that you might have bought a death warrant! None of the real aristocratic families in Yazhou City came to buy seats!

Those who come to buy seats are most likely nouveau riche! Problem households!

Wait!

Feng Jiuxiao looked at Ye Changge from a distance and said softly, "This Longyou Gang leader's martial arts skills are average, but his organizational skills are really good!"

Zeng Yong asked: "How do you know?"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "Look, there are so many people and so many ships, but the whole situation is so orderly!"

"What does this have to do with him?"

"Didn't you see those big men in black clothes? The ones with the dragon pattern embroidered on their left chests!" "Oh, I saw them. There are quite a lot of them. They are everywhere!"

"Yeah, they are the ones who really maintain the scene! Those infantrymen are just a deterrent!"

"Well, those Longyou Gang members are still moving around, seemingly looking for suspicious people."

Ye Changge said, "Okay, now that the rules have been introduced, how about asking the prefect to explain them to everyone?"

Someone in the crowd immediately shouted, "Okay!"

Feng Jiuxiao and Zeng Yong smiled at each other!

Those who were the first to cheer were almost all from the Longyou Gang!

Once someone starts a trend, others will follow!

The crowd cheered, "Great!"

Cao Guangshi stood up and waved his hands, signaling everyone to be quiet!

"Hello, fellow villagers!"

"Hello, sir!"

Cao Guangshi smiled and said, "I am honored to participate in the traditional dragon boat race in Yazhou..."

Listening to Cao Guangshi's eloquent speech, Pang Shiwu said, "This official is really good at talking!"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "Some officials won't talk, but they will do practical things!"

"How about this Lord Cao?"

"He's good! He's a good official!"

"That's fine! If he isn't, I'll find a chance to teach him a lesson!"

"Oh, you are a thug, you always teach people a lesson!"

Cao Guangshi said: ...Okay, I've finished, now please allow Gang Leader Ye to announce the start of the competition!

Ye Changge bowed and said, "Yes!" He turned around and gestured to the distance, and someone immediately stood up and responded with a gesture!

Feng Jiuxiao said: "This Ye Changge actually compiled a set of hand gestures in advance as a way to convey commands. That's right, if the sound can't be conveyed, hand gestures can be used."

Ye Changge said loudly: "There are a total of 64 boats participating in this competition. Let's draw lots to divide them into groups first!"

The captains of the sixty-four competing teams began to line up to draw lots!

First divide into eight groups, take the top two in each group, and decide the sixteen!

Divide into two groups, each with eight boats, and take the top two from each group!

The four teams that are shortlisted will compete one last time!

The champion reward is three thousand taels of silver!

The runner-up prize is two thousand taels of silver!

The third place prize is one thousand two taels of silver!

Pang Shiwu suddenly asked, "I just heard someone talking about this observation deck. The seats are charged, and the fees are not low. Brother, what do you think Cao thinks?"

Feng Jiuxiao asked: "Do you suspect that he and Ye Changge are colluding with officials and businessmen?"

Pang Shiwu made no secret of it, "Yes! He is an official who doesn't care about his reputation. He got involved with the Longyou Gang. What good intentions could he have?"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "Don't judge a person by his appearance! He is close to the Longyou Gang, I think he is helpless!"

Pang Shiwu was a little puzzled, "Helpless?"

Feng Jiuxiao smiled and said nothing.

At this time, the first group of eight dragon boats had begun to gather towards the starting point.

The referee was a middle-aged man. He stood on the boat next to him, holding a yellow flag among the five-color flags. "Everyone, take your positions..."

The drummers on the eight dragon boats began to beat the leather drums slowly. The drum sounds were dull, as if they were suppressing their emotions. Once the referee raised the green flag, it meant they had to sprint with all their might!

The knockout round is very cruel!

Only one chance!

The little green flag was finally raised!

Boom boom boom... a burst of dense drum sounds came from the river! (End of this chapter)